The role of emotional shifts and event-congruent emotions in narrative persuasion
Final Report Abstract
As numerous psychological and communication studies have shown, stories can be used effectively to change the attitudes and beliefs of audiences. In pertinent theories, their persuasive effect is attributed to the fact that stories take audiences on an emotional journey into their world and draw their attention into it (a state called transportation). The assumption that it is precisely emotional shifts triggered by the story in audiences that enable, deepen, and sustain this state, and thus increase the persuasive potential of the story, was investigated in more depth in this project. In several experiments, we were able to show that the connection of emotional shifts with transportation is not as clear-cut as it has been presented in the underlying theoretical literature, and therefore the effects on narrative persuasion are probably subject to further influencing factors as well. In the research process, we overcame a number of methodological difficulties: We have developed several ways to manipulate the emotional trajectories of stories without altering their underlying message (and, consequently, making them usable for research on narrative persuasion). We have found that emotional shifts cannot be manipulated with mood inductions. And we have tested and successfully used multiple measurement methods for emotional shifts (several self-report-based, but also psychophysiological and behavioral). In essence, we were able to show that emotional shifts in stories are associated with different mental and physical processes and depend on narrative structure. Especially valence shifts are associated with changes in the sympathetic nervous system, which can be distinguished from narrative tension. Even different distinct emotions seem to stimulate different processing in the narrative reception process. In particular, the flow of happiness seems to have a beneficial effect on transportation (presumably through a cognitive focus on the story) and to carry persuasive benefits. We also generally found positive correlations between the number and intensity of emotional shifts and self-reported emotional flow and transportation. Our research provided evidence that the persuasion-enhancing effects of transportation and event-congruent emotional experience are more prevalent in stories with emotional shifts. While transportation per se is primarily beneficial for affective-level attitude changes, emotional shifts seem to have an additional positive effect on social sharing intentions. We hypothesize that persuasive benefits from emotional shifts are particularly evident in stories that elicit shifts in happiness and that have a sufficient length. Although our study material is not suitable for testing this hypothesis, a complete analysis of the data material we collected (including further research as appropriate) may corroborate or specify these conclusions.
Publications
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Examining emotional shifts in narratives: A multi-method approach. In J. Kaakinen (Chair), The influence of emotion on the processing of varying text sources [Symposium]. 29th Annual Meeting of the Society for Text & Discourse, New York, USA.
Schmidt, M.-L., Winkler, J., Appel, M. & Richter, T.
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Exploring causal effects of emotional shifts in narrative persuasion. In P. Ohler (Chair), Getting emotional with media [Symposium]. 11th Conference of the Division of Media Psychology of the German Psychological Society, Chemnitz, Germany.
Winkler, J., Schmidt, M.-L., Appel, M. & Richter, T.
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“E” for emotion. Transportation into story worlds and self-probed retrospection of emotional shifts as narrative experiences. In M. Pittman (Chair), Media and emotion [Symposium]. 69th Conference of the International Communication Association, Washington, D.C., USA.
Winkler, J. R., Appel, M., Schmidt, M.-L. & Richter, T.
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A rollercoaster of emotions: The experience of emotional shifts as a process of narrative persuasion. In Narrative persuasion: Attitudes and emotion [Symposium]. 71st Conference of the International Communication Association, Denver, USA (virtual conference).
Winkler, J., Schmidt, M.-L., Appel, M. & Richter, T.
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Valenzkontinuität in narrativer Persuasion – Transportation und der Einfluss emotionaler Wechsel [Valence continuity in narrative persuasion - Transportation and the influence of emotional shifts]. In J. Lenhart (Chair), Der Einfluss von Geschichten auf soziale Kognition und emotionales Erleben [The influence of stories on social cognition and emotional experience] [Symposium]. 18th Conference of the Division of Educational Psychology of the German Psychological Society (virtual conference).
Schmidt, M.-L., Richter, T., Winkler, J. & Appel, M.
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Differentiating emotional shifts by narrative structure – An exploratory analysis of valence, arousal and emotional intensity progressions in different genres. In C. Remmers, Cognition and emotion: potpourri [Symposium]. 52nd Congress of the German Psychological Society, Hildesheim, Germany.
Schmidt, M.-L. C. R., Winkler, J. R., Appel, M. & Richter, T.
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Do emotional shifts drive narrative transportation? Investigating the effects of happiness and sadness shifts in response to stories with a happy ending [Poster presentation]. 52nd Congress of the German Psychological Society, Hildesheim, Germany.
Winkler, J. R., Appel, M., Schmidt, M.-L. C. R. & Richter, T.
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Real-time responses to stories: linking valence shifts to post-exposure emotional flow and transportation. Communication Research Reports, 39(5), 237-247.
Winkler, Julia R.; Mengelkamp, Christoph & Appel, Markus
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Story structure and narrative transportation: Examining the effects of happiness and sadness shifts in stories with a happy ending. In K. Fitzgerald, Media, mood and emotions [Symposium]. 72nd Conference of the International Communication Association, Paris, France.
Winkler, J., Appel, M., Schmidt, M.-L. & Richter, T.
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The Experience of Emotional Shifts in Narrative Persuasion. Media Psychology, 26(2), 141-171.
Winkler, Julia R.; Appel, Markus; Schmidt, Marie-Luise C.R. & Richter, Tobias
